When to Cut Spinach in Alberta, and How Long It Really Keeps
Cut spring spinach before the longest day of June, and sow the fall crop in July so it can be cut around mid-September.
Alberta
Home and garden guidance for Alberta: hardiness zones, heating seasons, provincial programs and the rules that differ from across the border.
Gardening in Alberta
Everything we have worked out for Alberta: what to plant and when, which varieties finish in time, the pests that actually turn up here, and the jobs that pay off month by month. We also cover the rest of the property, from lawns and soil to home care and energy, because a garden rarely stops at the vegetable bed.
The numbers first, because everything else follows from them. Measured at the weather station in Calgary, the last spring freeze falls around May 21 and the first fall freeze falls around September 16, 1,171 growing degree days in the year.
That is little accumulated warmth: tomatoes need a tunnel or a greenhouse here, whatever the frost dates suggest. Garlic does well: 39.1 weeks below 40 °F, comfortably past the six it needs to form a proper head.
Elsewhere on the property in Alberta: the pests that turn up here.
Figures from Environment and Climate Change Canada. A state is not one climate: elevation, a large lake or the coast can move these dates by two weeks either way, so check your own county with the extension service before you spend money.
When Sweet Corn Is Ready in Alberta, and How Fast It Fades
Sweet corn in Alberta is ready 60 to 90 days after planting, and planting has to wait for soil above 60 F, which arrives after the last frost, not with it.
Heat Pump or Gas Furnace in Alberta: Which Costs Less to Run?
Against electric baseboard, a heat pump wins easily in Alberta. Against a gas furnace, the answer depends on one number this article can’t supply: the…
When to Pick Peppers in Alberta, and Why the Fridge Ruins Them
Pick peppers once the fruit is full size and firm. In Alberta that usually means 70 to 85 days after transplanting, so late summer for a late-May planting.
When to Plant Grass Seed in Alberta
In Alberta, sow cool-season grass seed in late spring, once the soil two inches down sits between 50 and 65 °F, or in summer before a firm cutoff of…
How High to Mow a Lawn in Alberta
Set the mower to 2 to 3 inches for Kentucky bluegrass and fine fescues, 3 to 3.5 inches for tall fescue, and 1.5 to 2.5 inches for perennial ryegrass and…
When to Aerate a Lawn in Alberta
Aerate an Alberta lawn in late summer into early fall, while the grass is still growing and well ahead of the average first fall frost, which falls on…
How Late Can You Plant Trees and Shrubs in Fall in Alberta?
The conservative answer for Alberta is to have trees and shrubs in the ground by August 5, six weeks before the first fall frost, which averages…
When to Mulch Strawberries and Perennials for Winter in Alberta
Wait for the ground to freeze, not just for the first frost. In Calgary, the average first fall frost lands on September 16, and winter mulch belongs on…
When to Dig Up Dahlias, Cannas and Gladiolus in Alberta
Dig them after the first frost that blackens the foliage, within a week or two of that frost.